Happy New Year!

JANET SILVERA

THANK YOU for taking the time to read the first edition of Hospitality Jamaica for 2006.

We promise to bring you even more exciting and far more edifying news than we gave you in 2005.

This year, we will highlight training opportunities within the industry, skills enhancement and achievements of the tourism workers, who continue to make the difference in the hospitality industry.

The publication will also seek to highlight the impact that the lifeblood of the economy (tourism) has had within the resort towns of Port Antonio and Ocho Rios and the cultural centre of the Caribbean, Kingston.

Believe it or not, we are aware that Montego Bay and Negril get too much attention while the south coast receives just enough, so we plan to bring you that balance.

One of the main areas of focus in 2006, will be the service offered by our hotels, restaurants, attractions, car rental agencies, taxis and tour operators.

BEST SERVICE FROM MALE WORKERS

In 2005, we visited several of the island's hotels and noticed that the people giving the best service were the male species within the tourist industry, proving what I have said for years that men make much
better customer service agents.

They are more pleasant and never seem to take their problems from home to work. They smile without having to be prompted and are extremely helpful.

I need not go on and on about the men of the industry, that has become the engine of growth and prosperity of this land we call home, Jamaica.

I must thank our loyal readers, who continue to make Hospitality Jamaica their
preferred source of information on the industry, our advertisers supported us wholeheartedly last year as well as the writers, paginators and sales representatives.